A different kind of blog

I still have a ton of Disney elements to add to my blog, but I figured posts like this might be helpful too. I am working on a couple of wedding albums for DH's twin cousins both married this summer. One is getting a full 12x12 scrapbook, since she hired me to take pictures. I also decided to make a small 8x8 book for her sister. I had a lot of good pictures, and I try to squish in as many as I can, so I decided to create sketches. I will use pictures that are 5x7, 4x6, 3x4 and 2x3.

Remember that you can turn a sketch to get different layouts as well. I plan on doing this for the 12x12 book too. But I am nowhere ready to do that yet.

8x8 Sketches

Disney Dreams Title and Embellished Shapes

Disney Dreams is another show on board Disney cruises. It takes you into the dreams of Anne Marie where she is visited by several familiar Disney characters.

I haven't entirely abandoned by pre-Cricut items. The font for the title was partially done with Sizzix "Girls are Weird" and partially Sizzix "Monkey Tails." The clouds were cut with the icon feature from Mickey and Friends cartridge.

Clipart from Disney Clips

Bazzill: Diamond (Bling), Serendipity (Bling), Handsome (Bling), Gold (metallic)

Stateroom Title and Squares

One of the things I try to do with my scrapping take a different approach to color. For example, for my Fourth of July set, I didn't use red, white and blue. I used yellow, white and blue. For the stateroom set, I wanted something decidedly NOT nautical in color. While perusing the paper aisle at Hobby Lobby, I found this patterned paper and I thought it would fit the bill. The photo didn't really capture the colors well, but it is a burnt orange, pale green and yellow.

The flags are the icon and border feature from one of the Donald cuts from the Mickey & Friends cartridge. The edges have been inked on the squares.

Cricut: George, Mickey & Friends
Paper: Bo Bunny Shabby Princess Collection "Harvest Table"
Bazzill: Festive, Pear, Candlelight

Golden Mickeys Borders & Lyric

So I had used my friend's Cricut for previous swap items, now you will be able to tell I have my own, as the use of it will become more frequent.

For those that haven't been on a Disney Cruise, Golden Mickeys is the shows that they perform on board, during Formal Night. Golden Mickeys actually, is more than just a show in a theater. They roll out the red carpet from the Atrium down past the shops to the entrance of the Walt Disney Theater. In the half hour before the start of the show, they will have someone interviewing the arrivals, ala "Joan Rivers on the Red Carpet." The arrivals, are just other cruise passengers. And since it is Formal Night, everyone is dressed up. If you are already in the theater, the interviews are shown on the two side screens.

The lyric is "Who Knows Where a Dream May Lead," the song that they use to end the show. It was too big to fit on one piece with the borders and I assume people want to include photos. So I split it up into two parts. Small square gold brads in the corners

The Mickey punch is sold at the parks.

Cricut: George
Paper: Anna Griffin Gold Feathers (AG1237)
Bazzill: Coal, Kisses

Captain Mickey Paper Piecing and Photo Mats

I really wasn't planning on adding any more pieces before my trip. But I made the mistake of finishing everything I needed to get done before it was time for bed. So now I've been spaz-ing out all day. To paraphrase the Disney commercial, "I'm too excited to do anything!" Blogging does usually take a bit of time, so I'll see how much time I can burn off, with some more posts.

Onto Disney Cruise swap items...

On board ship, they sell a Disney Cruise coloring book. That gave me access to the pattern to create this captain Mickey paper piecing. The clipart from the photo mats came from the sign that they had marking the entrance to the embarkation area. Colors were obviously, inspired by the colors of Captain Mickey himself. The eyelets on the one mat are reminiscent of a ship's portholes or rigging holes.

Paper: This time, it's all valuepack type paper from JoAnn's or Michaels.

Happy New Year: Title, Quote, Journal Box

I created the starburst pattern in Paint Shop Pro, for the background of the title. You can create a symmetric shape, and input the number of sides you want. I played around until I got something that looked right underneath the box the size of the title. I cut out extra numbers so that people could use it for whatever year they wanted. The blue & silver ribbon is Christmas ribbon that I found cheap.

Over on Two Peas in A Bucket they have something called PeaSoup. There you can find all sorts of quotes, song lyrics, poems for any subject you can think of. That's where I found the New Year's Day quote by Edith Lovejoy Pierce.

Sizzix: Girls are Weird
Bazzill: Red Carpet (Bling), Black Tie (Bling), Platinum(metallic), Ziff(metallic)

Easter: Title, Squares, Paper Piecing, Journal Box

I think the easter basket is the only non-Disney paper piecing I have made. The patterned paper, and the eggs are all SEI. The plain colors are the backside of patterned paper.

The eggs on the title are pop dotted, and then the letters are pop dotted on top of the pop dotted eggs. Small flowers on the E, are Jolee's. Chocolate Bunny brad ordered from Bargain Pack .

Sizzix: Monkey Tails
Primas: Got Flowers - Bright 1
Bazzill: Glamour (Bling), Romance
Patterned Paper: SEI Penelope's Potpourri "Tiny Tulips"

License Plates & Bookmarks

So I lied, there will be posts before the 10th. I got caught up on things I needed to do, and I can't pack until the laundry is dry. I have a burst of energy, so here we go.

These are the last pieces from the Surprise Swap. You might remember that this Surprise Swap provided the impetus for this blog. I posted the pics of my completed projects, swappers picked their favorites and those were the pieces I sent for most of the Disney groups. However, some people didn't request items, or didn't request enough items for the groups I was in, so I had to make a few brand new items to fill all my spots.

In most swaps, you can predict which items are going to get made. Toppers, photo mats, tags, embellished shapes are all popular choices. So I picked elements that hardly ever get made. And you know what? These are both really easy elements to make. The most difficult part of the license plate is cutting out the 2 holes on top. I actually trace the hole with a stencil from a McDonald's Happy Meal! It's the "Number 1" part, turned sideways. Then I use an Exacto knife to cut it. Bookmarks are really only large tags.

Interesting story, for the patterned paper for the bookmarks. It was free! Every September, Bazzill Basics Paper holds a warehouse sale, and on the way out there was a box marked "free." It was leftover paper from a kit project. So it was all 2-3" x 12", not too useful for most people, but it was great for the bookmarks. When we came to Denver in February, I found the paper I used for Belle on clearance at Archiver's, so I was able to get a couple sheets to use for whatever page I end up putting my Belle bookmark to use.

The Stitch license plate, actually has an "Alien Stitch" clipart pop dotted in the middle. I had miscalculated how many I needed to print, and so never finished mine. A year later, and it's still not done. That is a project I should accomplish, "Finish all the 90% done pieces."

Clipart from Disney Clips
Cricut: Jasmine (Belle), ZooBalloo (Balloo)
Sizzix: Girls are Weird (license plates)

Paper: Provocraft The Slab 6 (License plates)
Bazzill: Forest, Candlelight

No updates for a couple weeks

I hoped to do a better job of daily updates. Last weekend, I went to Tahoe for a family wedding, so there was a bunch of prep work that had to get done before I could play with my blog. Of course, when I travel, I seem to catch something, so I have been down most of this week with a cold. On Tuesday, I am flying to Walt Disney World to see my parents and to go to the Epcot Pin Trading event next weekend. I will be home on the 10th, so probably on the 12th I will get back to posting, but don't hold me to that.

Christmas Lyric and Journal Box

The large snowflake on the lyric and the ribbon were purchased at Joann's after Christmas clearance. The snowflake was originally a piece of garland for Christmas Trees that I cut apart and attached with a glue dot.

The Lyric is "Let it Snow," printed on vellum. The font is Chopin Script which can be downloaded on dafont.com .

Brad: I think the snowflake is from Making Memories from Michaels.
Bazzill: Kisses, Great Lakes
Bazzill Bling: Glass Slipper

Halloween Elements

I'm not quite sure what to call these. They are tags, without the eyelets and ribbon, or large embellished shapes. On my pages, I'm usually looking for "filler." Something to fill in the blank spaces in between photos, so that's what I decided to make.

This is the first time I used Bazzill's Bling paper. I use a lot of it now, the shimmery surface makes everything look a little fancier and more special. I also loved this line of Making Memories Halloween paper. I bought quite a bit of it to use for my own Halloween pages, and for the Haunted Mansion.

Brads: Purchased on sale, through Bargain Pack
Cricut: Jasmine
Paper: Making Memories Halloween Collection (2007) Glitter Check, Word Pattern
Bazzill Bling: Black Tie, Tootsie

This Little Piggy Box & Tag

Another "Anything Goes" swap item. I found the piggy ribbon in the Dollar bin at Michaels and I thought it was so cute, that I had to have it. Then I found a Pig Sizzix die on clearance, and I had to have it. I thought this could be used for kids pages or farm pages.

Pieces in the Surprise Swap also introduce the debut of my Cricut. I had visited my scrapping buddy and played with hers. Fell in love, luckily about that time AC Moore started their online shopping website, and for their grand opening had an AWESOME deal for the baby bug.

Sizzix: Pig (green, small die)
Cricut: George, Mickey & Friends (grass)
Paper: value pack type paper

Watermelon Photo Mat and Tags

How about a few non-Disney items...

One of the DISers hosts one of my favorite swaps...a Surprise Swap. It's a no pressure swap, everyone makes whatever they want. No saying what your topic is going to be, no saying what your element is going to be. It's great for using up your "stash." The only direction is that the group would have a theme. So we have Disney groups, Halloween, Christmas, and then "Anything Goes."

So I did these for "anything goes." They could be used in a 4th of July Layout or BBQ or just anything summery.

Ribbon from Lil Davis Designs
Patterned Paper: Carolee's Creations "Watermelon Slices"
Bazzill: Red Devil

General AK: Photo Mats, Title, Library Pocket

Last Animal Kingdom swap pieces, I think.

Another color/pattern group. I was going for carpets on this one. Another color of the fiber. You can tell, I really liked that fiber.

Patterned Paper: Flair Designs "Harvest Houndstooth"
Bazzill: Yam, Java

General AK: Photo Mats, Title, Squares, Journal Box

A couple of the groups in the swaps were "color/pattern swaps." The idea being that they could be used anywhere, and the recipient could add their own titles, or extra embellishments. Or just keep them as is.

I love this wide fiber ribbon, found it at a local scrapbook store. And I even managed to use my Mickey "whale of a punch" to make the Mickey head. I also used a different color of the fiber that I used on the Capybara pieces. The patterned paper is double sided, so I used one side for one mat, and one side for the other.

Patterned Paper: Imaginisce Trade Winds "Totally Bazaar"
Bazzill: Desert Sun

General AK: Photo Mats, Paper Piecing, Squares, Tag

The Pluto paper piecing is the first time, I took advantage of the computer. Previous paper piecings, I printed it, cut out the pieces and traced them, or I used tracing paper. This time, I used Paint Shop Pro to break up a coloring page. Each different color, was placed on a different layer in the program, so that I could print only the lines I needed for each color. While getting used to the computer work, took some time, it made it sooo much easier to get a great quality paper piecing. The pattern for Pluto came from an Animal Kingdom coloring book that was available during the opening of the park.

Fibers are from the yarn department at JoAnns. Beads on the photo mat are from the beading department at JoAnns. The metal embellishment on the tag is from All My Memories. They were sold in a pack of 3 "Discover," "Adventure," "Explore."

"Step into the Wild" is a phrase that Disney has used in advertising Animal Kingdom.

Patterned Paper: Imaginisce Trade Winds "Bengali Stripes"
Bazzill: Lily Pad

General AK - Tag, File Folder, squares

More generic, can be used anywhere, Animal Kingdom pieces. This ribbon also came from Joanns. They have some beautiful pieces in the ribbon by the yard section. While I was looking, I found some that was $19 a yard! I think this one was $2 a yard, but I had a coupon for 40% off. It's been awhile since I went looking for fancy ribbon. They have a ton of stuff on sale this week, maybe I should go check it out.

Prima Flowers
Sizzix: Tag, file folder, Ancient Document, Sizzlit decorative strip "Flowers, loopy"
Bazzill: Saltillo, Kachina, Yam

Camp Minnie-Mickey Paper Piecing

I know this is one the DIS scrappers favorite pieces. This is also an example of what happens to me when I get an idea stuck in my head. I will look at pictures of the park for inspiration, and this is based off one of the signs that marks the direction and entrance of Camp Minnie-Mickey. When I found the photo of the sign, I knew this is what I wanted to do, but I didn't know how I could possibly do it. But it kept eating at me.

So I saved a copy of the photo, and in Paint Shop Pro I erased all the color, leaving only something where the lines would be. Then on another layer, I basically traced the remaining bits to create a line drawing of the sign. Then I had to break it apart into each of the layers, print on each of the colors of cardstock, cut it out and piece it together. The easy part were the letters, those are Sizzlet alphabet "Playground."

On the actual sign, a bear is attacking Mickey, Donald, Huey, Dewey and Louie, but after everything it took to do this, I could not tackle the bear. However, now that the image has been created, making more is a simple task. Well, as simple as a paper piecing ever is. Just print, cut and assemble.

For the swap, I also made a library pocket and tag, but I sent mine away, and haven't remade it yet, so no pic.

Elephant Journal Box, Tag, Slide Mounts

Way back when I first started scrapping, I bought a couple of plastic templates. One was of the elephant that makes the bottom part of the journal box. The ribbon came from Joanns. Raffia for the tag.

Sizzix: Slide Mounts, Tag, Sizzlet Elephant
Patterned Paper: Imaginisce Exotic East "Oh So Opulent"
Bazzill: Palo Verde, a retired classic texture in grey (don't know the name), value pack ivory

Capybara Quote, Box, Tag

A couple of the swap groups were animals. The one group, had common animals like my elephant post above. The other group, everyone prided themselves on picking something more unique. I picked the Capybara, which I had remembered from early trips to Animal Kingdom. However, on my visits in 2007/2008 it appears the Capybara is no longer there.

While researching the Capybara, I also found out that Disney Storyboard artist Bill Peet at one time owned a Capybara. I should also mention that the Capybara is the world's largest rodent.

Also for the Animal Kingdom swaps, I discovered some interesting fibers at a local scrapbook store, which made great accents.

Leaf Brads from Eyelet Outlet
Sizzix: Ancient document, leaf #1 large
Patterned Paper: Francis Myer Fronds Dk Green
Bazzill: Straw, Bon Bon

Animal Kingdom Quote and Tags

The matted quote is the dedication for the park. The frame, leaves on the quote and the leaf tags are all Sizzix die cuts.

It is not obvious in the photo, but the quotes on the tags are printed on vellum, and then backed with the Lily Pad color Bazzill.

Sizzix: Jelly frame, leaf #1 Tiny, leaf #1 large
Bazzill: Saltillo, Yam, Amber, Palo Verde, Lily Pad

Flights of Wonder - Title and Quote

Here is another example of using an appropriate quote. And more Imaginisce paper. I made the bird on the title by

1. Sending my Dad to Animal Kingdom to take pictures of the signage for the show. I had hoped that he would have taken a picture of the rug that says "Caravan Stage" but he didn't.

2. Editing out everything except the bird.

3. Using the clone brush to finish the wings, since the tips weren't on the original design.



Crystal Brads from Making Memories
Title font: Sizzix Boxed Brush
Paper: Imaginisce Exotic East "Turkish Delight"
Bazzill: Kachina, Yam, Amber

Rafiki's Planet Watch - Photo Mats and Quote

The kit for the swap, also included a Rafiki paper piecing. The image of when he is sitting on the rocks, with the sun behind him. That was a tough paper piecing to do, with all the tiny pieces and dark cardstock for his hands and feet. Mine is actually not even done, which is why there isn't a picture.

Many of my groups contain a relevant quote, such as this one from John James Audubon. And I also used a bunch of appropriate words. Like this group uses "Discover," and the group below uses "Adventure."

Clipart from DisneyClips.

Paper: Imaginisce Exotic East "I Dream of Genie"
Bazzill: Yam, Lily Pad

General Animal Kingdom - Box & Tag, Squares

This is one of the few pieces that didn't use Imaginisce paper. However, the cardstock is the same colors that I had been using for all the other Animal Kingdom pieces, so they do coordinate. After making a ton of other pieces, my creative juices were sapped, and so this one is more on the plain side. Which is actually nice some time, we get a lot of pieces that are specific to an attraction or show, but we all have a ton of pictures in random places around the park to scrap too. Shout out to my fellow DIS scrapper from Indiana, who sent me tons of fiber. I ended up using some of it for the tags in this project.

Mickey Walking Punch
Paper: SEI - Winnie's Walls "scallop stripes"
Bazzill: Saltillo, Amber, Kachina

Maharajah Jungle Trek - Photo Mats, Tag, Squares

In August of 2007, I participated in two Animal Kingdom swaps. I found a bunch of paper from Imaginisce on clearance at Recollections, and I thought it would be perfect for these swaps. The papers were all from the Trade Winds and Exotic East collections.

For this swap, I tried two techniques for the first time: paper tearing and inking. I really liked how they turned out, but I think tearing is too much work and has too much paper waste to do for most swaps, but I will probably use it in my books. I did tear against a ruler, it short, quick bursts, to try and get it to look not so clean. I used "Value Pack" paper for the torn pieces, so I didn't feel quite so guilty for only getting 2 mats per sheet. That could get real expensive if I used Bazzill. Inking, I love, but forget to do it until after I've finished. I was able to buy a bunch of Bazzill Inks from their warehouse sale, so I have a lot of colors to play with. This color, I think, is Ivy.

Tiger Brads from Eyelet Outlet
Flower Brads from Spare Parts (Hobby Lobby)
"MJT" - Sizzix Monkey Tails Alphabet.
Paper: Imaginisce Exotic East "Oh So Opulant", Bazzill Palo Verde, value pack "neutrals"

Morocco - Squares & Tag

When this blog left off, I was participating in an Epcot swap. I had managed to scan the Fountain of Nations project before mailing it off, but not Morocco. So now, a year later, here it is.

The squares, I had previously made for Morocco pages in my scrapbook from my first trip to WDW. I think this was the first time I used "Bling" in my books. You can buy a package of rhinestones at a craft store, for a couple bucks. The Tag is inspired by the decorative arches that you can find throughout the country in Epcot. The flower sequins I actually picked up from a garage sale.

Clipart from Disney Clips.

Flower punch by EK Success
Bazzill: Sherbert, Aztec, Steel Blue

Photos taken

I think I have finished taking photos. Actually, I know there are a couple things missing, so I am not quite done. I took about 50 pictures, plus there are several pieces that I had photographed and posted on the DIS. So there are probably 75 projects to post. I'm not going to get them all done at once. So there will be a reason to come back to the blog everyday.

Stuff is coming...

I have a storage box that is stuffed to the gills with the scrap stuff I have received over the past year. Today, I started digging through it to photograph the pieces I had made. Apparently, I made a lot of crap, and I had forgotten half the pieces I had made! I'm probably halfway through the tub, and I'm tired. I'm trying to post chronologically, so unfortunately the stuff that needs to go on the blog next, is the stuff on the bottom of the pile. I had cleaned my scrap space in preparation of this project...now it needs cleaning all over again, with bags of pieces sprawled everywhere!

Updating the blog

It's been a year since I last posted. I haven't stopped scrapping, or swapping, so I have a whole year's worth of projects to add to the blog, over the coming days. I definitely have done a ton of swaps, so I have even more items that need to someday make it into my scrap books. So I'm going to attempt to switch my focus from swapping to scrapping, so maybe I will put some completed pages on the blog someday.